Tuesday, February 16, 2010

You're My Funny Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day! Me & my Aussie boy had a relaxed day spent with him watching sports and me in the kitchen! hah. We did go to dinner at a yummy burger joint, and meant to watch a horror movie and drink wine but we were too tired when we got home!

David tried to order me roses (aww) but they wouldn't deliver to our place in the boonies! I didn't mind though, all I wanted was a letter or homemade card. He did write me a sweet letter that made me teary eyed... and even drew a dozen roses on the back!! Too cute. Couldn't be happier :)

For David I made probably my favorite Valentine I've ever made. I love hand-making cards; this cost me $0.20 for the paper and $0.70 for the wooden heart, and I already had the other supplies. Less than $1 for a lovely Valentine that is made with LOVE and is unique! and David thought the "True Love" heart was "BADASS" haha!
I also got David a bunch of little foil-wrapped chocolate hearts in different flavors. The purple with pink heart dots wrapper is my favorite! I'd totally want that as a skirt!!
Determined to make a yummy dessert, but equally determined to stay on my diet, I made a low-fat Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Let me tell you one thing: there is NO SUCH THING as low-fat Cream Cheese Frosting! The recipe said to use low-fat cream cheese, vanilla yogurt, and cottage cheese. I left out the cottage cheese, and LORDY was it bland and not sweet! I decided not to sacrifice taste, so I sifted in a bunch of powdered sugar to make it palatable, and sprinkled sweetened coconut on top. The cake itself is also sort of bland and not sweet enough. Boo.
I recommend sticking with full-fat / full-deliciousness Red Velvet cake.. but here is the recipe (with my alterations) if anyone is interested in anyway. Actually, I just had a piece and with a good amount of cream cheese frosting, it's pretty nummy!!

Low-Fat Red Velvet Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting
2 1/2 cups flour
3 Tbsp coca powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
[Combine in medium bowl]

1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup reduced-fat buttermilk
Red food coloring
[In large bowl, beat the first three ingredients. Then add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla. Then pour in buttermilk and enough red food coloring to make the batter a lovely red.]

1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp baking soda
[Stir together in a tiny bowl, let it fizz, then fold into the batter.]

Pour in a bundt pan and cook at 350 degrees F (175 C) for 30-40 minutes.
Frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.
8 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
6 oz. light vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted (up to 1 cup, to taste)
[Beat till creamy and blended. It was a bit thin]

I drizzled this on, but I had leftover, and a thicker coat of frosting would be better. I also sprinkled shredded sweetened coconut on top.
Enter your Valentine's Day recipe for the giveaway at Fun&Food Cafe

"You're my funny Valentine, sweet comic Valentine, you make me smile with my heart.."

6 comments:

trishie said...

Sounds like you guys have a lovely sweet valentine's day.
The cake looks yum!

trishie said...

Hey Laura, it's me again!
Just letting you know i've tagged you: http://trishiekoh.blogspot.com/2010/02/photo-tag.html

Anonymous said...

this is so so cute, im definitely making that cake haha
and the notebook drawing sounds absolutely adorable :)

Rose said...

Hi Laura,
Ive just come over from Trishies blog. I see you just started blogging this month! so welcome to blog land, im sure you will have fun and meet heaps of lovely people :)
The card you made is so lovely and that cake! Isnt ita a pain when something says low-fat but forgets to mention its also low-taste lol ive been caught with that before too.
Hope you have a great week :)

Rose

Laura Loo said...

Thank you for tagging me, Trishie! and thanks for finding me, Rose!

You know, the more frosting I put on it, the better the cake tastes. The frosting is soo goooooood :D

Caroline said...

Oh Well Done!!! YUM YUM YUM!! xo